"Will Asian online game publishers Nexon and NCsoft buy blockbuster publisher Valve?" asks VentureBeat in an article based on a rumor in a "major" Korean publication. Joongang News reports Nexon and Valve met in Hawaii yesterday to discuss a possible merger. Nexon was also involved in acquisition rumors earlier this year when reports emerged it was bidding on EA. Valve's Gabe Newell has expressed no interest in selling the company when previous such rumors have emerged, but neither company has commented on this report yet.

RollinThundr wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 16:29:Shame he's not obsessed with his own health, guy needs to lay off the cheeseburgers.

Who cares how much he weighs? He has a company full of like minded employees and his two best friends (also old school PC gamers) are practically co-owners. Besides, have you looked at the videogame industry as a whole lately? You do a lot of sedentary work with crappy hours in a social atmosphere, it's pretty much a recipe to eating take out all the time. Gabe has actually lost quite a bit of weight over the past few years anyway.

Anyways this whole thing silly, NCsoft doesn't have the money to buy Valve and Valve has repeatedly rebuffed potential buyers in the past.

Valve is thinking of getting into the console business. Merging with a company like Nexon would open the floodgates to the asian markets and give them a huge in on Korean/Chinese style games and content.

It is possible a move like this would catapult them past Sony/Microsoft in the console/game market by bypassing japan completely.

Dude where do you get that quality ganja? I need to smoke whatever you're smoking.

Valve is thinking of getting into the console business. Merging with a company like Nexon would open the floodgates to the asian markets and give them a huge in on Korean/Chinese style games and content.

It is possible a move like this would catapult them past Sony/Microsoft in the console/game market by bypassing japan completely.

NewMaxx wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 13:26:No, what he said was, he would let the company die before being sold to "some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate." That is carefully worded to allow for many things, such as mergers on his terms. It's an important distinction to be made, although I still do an "lolwut" in reaction to this particular news tidbit.

And even in that quote you can tell his obsession with his employees health. Which is why it will never happen.

Shame he's not obsessed with his own health, guy needs to lay off the cheeseburgers.

deqer wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 10:42:He already said he has NO INTEREST in selling the company.

No, what he said was, he would let the company die before being sold to "some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate." That is carefully worded to allow for many things, such as mergers on his terms. It's an important distinction to be made, although I still do an "lolwut" in reaction to this particular news tidbit.

In that same interview he also said that there was a better chance that Valve would disintegrate with it's independent-minded workers scattering than there was that the company would ever be sold.

I can't see Valve ever being sold or merging with any other company. They are worth billions, have a very different corporate culture than any other company around and have no incentive at all to go down that road. There is quite literally no upside for them in any merger or acquisition. I suspect Valve will be independent until the day Gabe Newell dies at which point it will "disintegrate" just as he predicted.

Creston wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 14:48:Does anyone know what the actual ownership picture is at Valve? Is it just Gabe and a few other guys that own everything, or have they allowed their long-time employees to get part ownership? Does Valve even HAVE shares?

According to that Gabe owns over half of Valve, but I couldn't find any mention anywhere else of who owns what because they're private. They have zero need to sell - and probably even less desire to do so. If anything this sort of announcement is usually a ploy to give the purchasing corps some attention and a little stock bounce - by whom is another matter but I'm sure their shares probably saw a small flurry of trading today.

Thanks for the link! Seeing as how Gabe owns more than 50% of Valve, I don't think we have to worry about a shitty outfit like EA or whatever Asian-Publisher-Du-Jour buying them.